They include Jim Parsons in Harvey, jazz pianist Chano Domínguez (if you don’t know him, you should!), the pentulimate episode of Close Quarters from Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and For the Record Live’s Brat Pack.

Here is the full list of our Best Bets: May 21st – May 24th:

*TOP PICK* – A Tribute to John Williams – Boston Pops – Now – June 19th

We showcased this concert in yesterday’s preview of our Best Bets. Here is the the top line. Composer John Williams and his music are celebrated in this concert by his one-time home, The Boston Pops. Keith Lockhart will be on the podium for this program of Williams’ film scores ranging from the well-known (Star Wars) to lesser-known tracks.

A special part of this program is the inclusion of interviews with Williams about many of these scores and his memories of creating them with filmmakers such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

A 7-day pass is required to watch A Tribute to John Williams. Those passes are $9

PLAY: Harvey – Roundabout Theatre Company on Broadway on Demand – Now – June 13th

Mary Chase’s play about a man’s friendship with an invisible rabbit (who gives the play its name) first opened on Broadway in 1944 with Frank Fay in the role of Elwood P. Dowd. (Trivia note for theater buffs: Antoinette Perry, the woman for whom the Tony Award is named, was the director.)

A 1970 revival of the play starred James Stewart who starred as Elwood in the 1950 film classic.

It would be 42 years before Harvey would find its way back to Broadway. Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) starred as Elwood with Jessica Hecht and Charles Kimbrough co-starring. This Roundabout Theatre Company production from 2012 is streaming for free on Broadway on Demand.

Charles Isherwood, in his New York Times review, hailed Parsons’ performance:

“The breakout star of the popular sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” the soft-spoken Mr. Parsons makes an ideal Elwood, the drinker and dreamer who passes his days in the company of Harvey, doing little more than sitting around saloons making friendly conversation with whoever happens by. Mr. Parsons possesses in abundance the crucial ability to project an ageless innocence without any visible effort: no small achievement for an actor in these knowing times.

You will need to register to stream the play. After you do so you’ll receive streaming instructions.

BALLET: Swan Lake – San Francisco Ballet – Now – June 9th

When San Francisco Ballet debuted Helgi Tomasson’s new Swan Lake ballet, it was a runaway hit. Interest in this production was so intense that they sold out nearly every performance.

In the ballet, Odette is a princess turned into a swan by a sorcerer. Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette. At night she turns back into her human form and it was upon seeing this transformation that the romance begins. Other spells and deception awaits the leads in Swan Lake. While love triumphs, it isn’t necessarily the happiest of endings, but it is certainly romantic.

Tchaikovsky’s music is still present, but it is Tomasson’s vision that was different after he updated the choreography by Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa.

The cast for this streaming performance features Yuan Yuan Tan in the dual roles of Odette and Odile. Tiit Helimets dances the role of Prince Siegfried. Alexander Reneff-Olson dances the role of Von Rothbart and the Pas de Trois is performed by Dores André, Taras Domitro and Sasha De Sola. Martin West conducts.

Tickets are $29 which allows for 72 hours of access to Swan Lake.

PLAY READING: The Sisters Rosensweig – Spotlight on Plays on Broadway’s Best Shows – Now – May 24th

Jason Alexander, John Behlmann, Lisa Edelstein, Kathryn Hahn, Kathryn Newton, Tracee Chimo Pallero, Chris Perfetti and James Urbaniak star in a reading of Wendy Wasserstein’s play. The reading is directed by Anna D. Shapiro (Tony Award-winner for her direction of August: Osage County).

The Sisters Rosensweig opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1993. This was her first Broadway play since wining the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for The Heidi Chronicles.

The play depicts a reunion of three sisters who haven’t seen each other in years. Through the course of the play they come to understand that the bond of being sisters is more important than any of the reasons they’ve stayed apart.

Mel Gussow, in his review for the New York Times said of the play:

“Ms. Wasserstein’s generous group portrait is not only a comedy but also a play of character and shared reflection as the author confronts the question of why the sisters behave as they do. The immediate answer is that they are Rosensweigs and are only doing what is expected of them. The play offers sharp truths about what can divide relatives and what can draw them together.”

Wasserstein passed away in 2006 at the age of 55 due to complications of lymphoma.

Tickets are $18 which allows for repeated viewings through May 24th at 6:00 PM ET/3:00 PM PT. Proceeds benefit The Actors Funds, TDF Wendy Wasserstein Project and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

JAZZ: Chano Domínguez – SFJAZZ – May 21st – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

Spanish born pianist Chano Domínguez has long put postbop, flamenco and fusion influences together to create a wholly original approach to jazz music. In this concert from 2018, Domínguez celebrates the work of Miles Davis.

Joined by bassist Alexis Cuadrado, drummer Henry Cole, flamenco singer Blas Córdoba and dancer Daniel Navarro, Domínguez will offer his take on such classic Davis tracks such as So What, All Blues and Freddie the Freeloader from Davis’ 1959 classic album Kind of Blue.

The concert is streaming right around dinner time on the East Coast (8:00 PM) and happy hour on the West Coast (5:00 PM). As a wine pairing for this concert I suggest a crisp Albariño for those who prefer white wine and a dry Rioja for those who prefer red.

If you can’t make the Fridays at Five showing, there will be an encore presentation on Saturday, May 22nd at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT.

Tickets are $5 which includes a one month digital membership.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Elizabeth Stanley – Broadway Stories & Songs with Ted Sperling – May 21st – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

I first saw Elizabeth Stanley in the 2006 revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company. Since then she’s appeared on Broadway in Cry-Baby, Million Dollar Quartet, the 2014 revival of On the Town and she was starring in Jagged Little Pill when the pandemic hit. That show, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, will re-open on October 21st.

Stanley is an amazing singer and one who performs songs in the truest sense of the word. She doesn’t just sing, she imbues them with whatever the song calls for: comedy, drama, pathos, etc..

She joins Ted Sperling for this weekend’s Broadway Stories & Songs with Ted Sperling. The show will first air at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT on Friday. It will also be rerun on Saturday at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT. The $25 ticket price allows you to view both showings.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Shin, Reid + Britten – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – Debuts May 21st – 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT

In this penultimate episode of LA Chamber Orchestra’s Close Quarters series, the music of Benjamin Britten and Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Reid is performed along with the world premiere of Hyo by Peter S. Shin.

Shin was the recipient of the 2020/2021 Sound Investment Honor which finds donors investing in the creation of a new work and following its progress leading up to its premiere.

Les Illuminations by Britten is a 16-minute song cycle that had its world premiere in 1940. Joining LACO for this performance is soprano Nicole Cabell. She’s performed in opera houses around the world in Porgy and Bess, La Traviata, Don Giovanni and more.

Lumee’s Dream from Reid’s opera p r i s m is the last work on the program.

Dance is included in this episode with choreography by Rebecca Steinberg performed by Layne Paradis Willis and Joe Davis.

Visuals are by Jian Lee and the LACO is lead by Grant Gershon.

There is no charge to watch this show. If you haven’t look at the other 12 episodes in this ambitious and very satisfying series, I urge you to do so.

MUSICAL: Brat Pack – The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts – May 21st – May 23rd

Don’t you forget about films like The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and more. You won’t be able to if you stream Brat Pack this weekend.

For the Record Live created a cottage industry of shows dedicated to the soundtracks from various films centered around individual directors. Amongst the most popular was their show celebrating John Hughes. That show serves as the inspiration for Brat Pack which tells the story of the high school experiences of the archetypal Basket Case, Geek, Jock, Mister and Rebel. Does that sound like a club with whom you might like to have breakfast?

Brat Pack was filmed live on stage at The Wallis with James Byous, Emily Lopez, Parissa Koh, Patrick Ortiz, Doug Kreeger and Kenton Chen. As with any For the Record Live production, they are accompanied by a killer band.

Tickets are $20 which allows for viewing all weekend long. One note of caution: the show does contain adult subject matter and language.

OPERA: Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen – Glyndebourne – May 23rd – June 6th

Vladimir Jurowski conducts; starring Emma Bell; Lucy Crowe, Sergei Leiferkus and Mischa Shelomainaksi. This Melly Still production is from the 2011-2012 season.

Leoš Janáček’s opera had its world premiere in Prague in 1924. The Cunning Little Vixen has a libretto by the composer based on a serialized novel by Rudolf Těsnohlídek called Liška Bystrouška.

In The Cunning Little Vixen a foster, while taking a nap, is taken by a young vixen to be her pet. Once she gets older she pursues a more independent life. The vixen gets mistaken for a gypsy girl and her life becomes a whirlwind she never expected.

We’ve covered literally hundreds of opera productions here at Cultural Attaché. I can say with absolute certainty that this is the first time we’ve offered up a production of Cunning Little Viven. This is not a commonly performed opera.

Fiona Maddocks, in her review for The Guardian, said of this production:

“Melly Still’s staging, designed with folkloric charm by Tom Pye and atmospherically lit by Paule Constable, wins enough plus points to balance out the minuses. The action is often chaotic and unfocused. There is no allowance made for the speed at which the text moves. Lacking the requisite fluency in Czech – feeble, I know – one had to cling on to the surtitles at the risk of missing the action. The shooting of the Vixen passed almost without notice, though this may be the point: another ordinary day in the genocidal war of man and beast.”

There is no charge to watch Cunning Little Vixen which will be available for streaming through June 6th.

BROADWAY FUNDRAISER: Broadway Barks – May 23rd – 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT

This annual event supports the adoption of shelter animals. Broadway Barks was started by good friends Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters in 1998. Every year they have had in-person events where Broadway stars and shelter pets combine to entertain and find homes for the four-legged friends.

This is the second virtual edition and they have an incredible line-up:

Sebastian Arcelus, Annaleigh Ashford, Alec Baldwin, Christine Baranski, Bill Berloni, Stephanie J. Block, Carol Burnett, David Burtka, Victoria Clark, Glenn Close, Lily Collins, Harry Connick Jr., Sheryl Crow, Jason Danieley, Ted Danson, Ariana DeBose, Daveed Diggs, Gloria Estefan, Harvey Fierstein, Calista Flockhart, Whoopi Goldberg, Josh Groban, Kathryn Grody, Emmylou Harris, Neil Patrick Harris, Megan Hilty, James Monroe Iglehart, Hugh Jackman, Christopher Jackson, Allison Janney, Nathan Lane, Bob Mackie, Audra McDonald, Charlie McDowell, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Bebe Neuwirth, Mandy Patinkin, David Hyde Pierce, Randy Rainbow, Kelly Ripa, Chita Rivera, Lea Salonga, Phillipa Soo, and Mary Steenburgen. 

Peters will serve as the host.

Broadway Barks will stream on Broadway.com and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ Facebook and YouTube pages. 

Those are our Best Bets: May 21st – May 24th. As usual, a few reminders before we conclude:

Tales from the Wings: Celebrating Lincoln Center Theater with Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald and others remains available through Sunday, May 23rd only. Don’t miss it.

LA Opera’s Signature Series adds a recital by Julia Bullock on Friday to still available performances by Russell Thomas, Susan Graham and Christine Goerke.

Next week the fourth and final episode of Myths and Hymns from MasterVoices debuts. If you haven’t seen the first three episodes, take a look.

The Romero Quartet launches their 60th anniversary celebration with a streaming concert from Belly Up in Solano Beach on Sunday. For details and our interview with Pepe Romero, please go here.

The Metropolitan Opera productions streaming this weekend are the 2016-2017 season production of Verdi’s Nabucco on Friday; Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor from the 1982-1983 season (with Joan Sutherland) on Saturday and the 1995 production of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades on Sunday. This will conclude the Unhinged Mad Scenes week.

Monday the Met begins Rare Gems week with a 2008-2009 season production of Massenet’s Thaïs. We’ll have the full line-up on Monday for you.

Lastly if you’ve read our interview with Isabel Leonard (and please do, she has a lot to say), you’ll remember that Saturday the Met streams Three Divas at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT featuring Leonard with Ailyn Pérez and Nadine Sierra.

That’s truly the end of our Best Bets: May 21st – May 24th.

I hope you have a great weekend. Enjoy the culture!

Photo: Keith Lockhart conducting the Boston Pops (Photo by Stu Rosner/Courtesy Boston Pops)

The post Best Bets: May 21st – May 24th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

But that’s not all! There are operas both old and new; dance both modern and ballet; vocalists singing standards and show tunes; several jazz concert options; contemporary classical music and witty banter to start your weekend off just right. We have nearly two dozen options for you!

With so many plays available, one of them was destined to be my Top Pick this week. It’s almost as if it had been written in the stars. Topping this week’s list is the Public Theater’s radio play and bilingual version of Shakespeare’s Romeo y Julieta with Juan Castano as Romeo and Lupita Nyong’o as Julieta.

So here are the Four Days of Best Bets: March 19th – March 22nd. The list begins with my Top Pick and is followed by events in the order in which they become available.

*TOP PICK* RADIO PLAY: Romeo y Julieta – Public Theater – Now Available

William Shakespeare’s best-known play is certainly Romeo and Juliet. In this radio play version you’ll get to hone in on exactly what makes this play so riveting: the story and the words. But there’s going to be a difference: this is a bilingual version called Romeo y Julieta.

Director Saheem Ali and Ricardo Pérez González have adapted Alfredo Michel Modenessi’s Spanish-language translation for this audio only production.

Starring as the title characters are Juan Castano as Romeo and Lupita Nyong’o as Julieta. Ivonne Coll plays the Nurse, Hiram Delgado is Tybalt, Irene Sofia Lucia is Mercutio, Julio Monge is Friar Lawrence and Javier Muñoz is Paris.

The rest of the cast includes Carlo Albán, Karina Arroyave, Erick Betancourt, Michael Braugher, Carlos Carrasco, John J. Concado, Guillermo Diaz , Sarah Nina Hayon, Kevin Herrera, Modesto Lacen, Florencia Lozano,  Keren Lugo, Benjamin Luis McCracken, Tony Plana and David Zayas.

The Public is making closed-captioning available in both English and Spanish and are also providing a script to use to follow along for those who might want that. Just be prepared for a tragic story that ends with these words:

“For never was a story more of woe

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

There is no charge to listen to Romeo y Julieta, but donations are encouraged.

PLAY: The Picture of Dorian Gray – now – March 31st

Oscar Wilde’s classic story of a man who sells his soul in order that his good looks don’t fade gets a contemporary spin in this new version of the story by Henry Filloux-Bennett. This updated approach has Dorian as a social media influencer who doesn’t want to see his fame fade. It’s just as much a Faustian deal here as in Wilde’s original.

Starring in this production are Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk), Alfred Enoch (seven of the Harry Potter films), Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous), Emma McDonald (Hamlet), Russell Tovey (Angels in America) and Stephen Fry (Wilde).

Tickets are £12 which at press time was equal to just under $17. There is a warning that there is strong language and references to mental illness and suicide. The production is recommended for audiences age 16 and higher.

PLAY: Women Without Men – Mint Theater Company – Now – March 21st

This is the first of several plays that New York’s Mint Theater Company has started streaming. Set in Ireland in the 1930s, Hazel Ellis’ play depicts the unmarried teachers at an all-girls school. It is their interactions with one another that reveals petty jealousies and very different personalities.

This production was staged in 2016 and was directed by Jean Thompson. Appearing in Women Without Men are Mary Bacon, Joyce Cohen, Shannon Harrington, Kate Middleton, Aedin Moloney, Alexa Shae Niziak, Kellie Overbey, Dee Pelletier, Beatrice Tulchin, Emily Walton and Amelia White.

There is no fee to watch the play. Registration; however, is required.

PLAY: Katie Roche – Mint Theater Company – Now – March 28th

Also from Mint Theater Company is this 2013 production of Teresa Devey’s 1936 play. Katie Roche tells the story of a servant girl who has big dreams and finds herself torn between two men.

The play had its premiere with Ireland’s Abbey Theatre and made its first appearance in the United States in 1937.

Starring are Margaret Daly, Patrick Fitzgerald, Jon Fletcher, David Friedlander, Jamie Jackson, John O’Creagh, Wrenn Schmidt, Diana Toibin. Jonathan Bank directs.

There is no fee to watch the play. Registration; however, is required.

PLAY: How to Catch Creation – Goodman Theatre – Now – March 28th

Half a century after a young woman’s girlfriend hits her with some very surprising news, four artists are coming to grips with the ramifications of that fateful day. That’s the premise of Christina Anderson’s How to Catch Creation which Chicago’s Goodman Theatre will be streaming on demand for two weeks.

This is not a reading of the play. Rather it is a capture of their 2019 production directed by Niegel Smith. The cast features Karen Aldridge, Ayanna Bria Bakari, Jasmine Bracey, Bernard Gilbert, Maya Vinice Prentiss and Keith Randolph Smith.

How to Catch Creation runs 2 hours and 15 minutes. There’s no charge to stream the production.

PLAY: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike – Broadway on Demand – Now – April 18th

You might think you need to know a lot about the work of Anton Chekhov to appreciate Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. While it certainly helps, it’s absolutely not essential. While the play does take place near a cherry orchard, there is familial conflict about what to do with a cherished home and the three siblings depicted all have names taken from Chekhov’s work, this comedy has proven popular around the world.

Durang had a rather circuitous route to Broadway with this play. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike had its world premiere at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton in 2012. One month after closing there it went off-Broadway to Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre. Two months after closing there it opened on Broadway and ultimately was named the Best Play at the Tony Awards.

One thing this play was able to do was keep its cast intact for all those moves. So the film that Lincoln Center is making available for free on Broadway on Demand features David Hyde Pierce, Billy Magnussen, Kristine Nielsen, and Sigourney Weaver.

I’ve seen this play two times and strongly recommend you allow yourself the time to relax, sit back and enjoy yourself.  In 2014 I interviewed David Hyde Pierce about the play and his direction of it when it played the Mark Taper Forum. You can read that interview here.

OPERA: Breaking the Waves – Los Angeles Opera – March 19th – April 12th

The 1996 Lars von Trier film Breaking the Waves told the dark story of a husband, who is recovering from an accident at work, who encourages his wife to have sex with other men during his recovery. It was a bold film that featured a shattering performance by Emily Watson.

Composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek created an opera based on this film. Their work had its world premiere at Opera Philadelphia in 2016.

The work won universal acclaim including these comments by Alex Ross in The New Yorker:

“The opera created a world: it had a tone, a profile. There was an uncommonly strong relationship between libretto and music: the work felt urgent, driven by conviction, essential.”

Los Angeles Opera had scheduled a live production of Breaking the Waves, but the pandemic got in the way. In its place they are making a film of the opera directed by James Darrah available for free streaming (registration is required).

The original cast returns: Kiera Duffy, John Moore, Eve Gigliotti, David Portillo, Zachary James and Marcus DeLoach.

As you might imagine with this subject matter, a word of caution. This production includes explicit language, nudity and sexual content, some of a violent nature. Recommended for mature audiences only.

CONVERSATION: Virtual Halston – Cast Party Network – March 19th – 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT

If you’re going to have an afternoon salon filled with ribald conversation and witty repartee, it helps to have two masters participating. In this week’s edition of Virtual Halston with Julie Halston, she’s got a great guest: playwright/author/screenwriter Paul Rudnick.

His plays include I Hate Hamlet, Jeffrey, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and the upcoming book for the musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada. His screenplays include The Addams Family, The First Wives Club and In and Out.

Actor Peter Bartlett, who received a Drama Desk nomination for his performance in The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, will also be joining.

JAZZ: A Night in New Orleans – Derek Douget – Lobero Theatre – March 19th

When winter turns to spring and Lent is approaching many people immediately think of New Orleans and its grand tradition of Mardi Gras. Even later in spring thoughts turn to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Mardi Gras didn’t happen this year and JazzFest is postponed until the fall.

So what’s a fan of that glorious music supposed to do?

Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara is riding to your rescue this weekend. Saxophonist Derek Douget and his band will bring all that wonderful music into your home beginning Friday evening with A Night in New Orleans.

Joining Douget are Victor Atkins on piano; Ashlin Parker on trumpet; Herlin Riley on drums and vocals; Jason Stewart on bass and Don Vappie on banjo/guitar and vocals.

Tickets are $15, but you’ll have to provide your own beads!

JAZZ: Cindy Blackman Santana and Guests – SFJAZZ – March 19th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM EDT

Drummer Cindy Blackman Santana is well connected. She’s recorded and toured with Joe Henderson, Pharoah Sanders, Joss Stone, Cassandra Wilson and more. She spent many years on the road as the drummer for Lenny Kravitz. She also toured with Santana and in 2010 Carlos Santana proposed to her.

But those aren’t the friends or guests that are part of this weekend’s Fridays at Five concert from SFJAZZ. She has recent Oscar-nominated composer/musician Terence Blanchard (Da 5 Bloods), guitarist Bill Frisell, the Kronos Quartet, saxophonist Joe Lovano and members of the SFJAZZ Collective joining for this concert from 2017.

There will be an encore presentation of this concert on Saturday, March 20th at 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT. Tickets are available with a monthly digital membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60).

OPERA: Renée Fleming Live from the Met – PBS (check local listings) – March 19th from 2021

If you are a regular reader of Cultural Attaché you know that Renée Fleming is one of the most beloved sopranos in opera. Whether seen and heard in productions or recitals, she is regularly a fan favorite.

PBS is airing a recital Fleming gave from Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. last August.

The program includes works by George Frideric Handel, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Jules Massenet, Giacomo Puccini and Richard Strauss. Robert Ainsley serves as her accompanist.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Andrew Rannells Live from Lincoln Center – PBS (check local listings) – March 19th from 2018

In December of 2017 Andrew Rannells performed in The Appel Room at Lincoln Center. The concert was filmed and first broadcast on PBS in 2018. The show returns to PBS this weekend.

Rannells is best known for his Tony Award-nominated performance in The Book of Mormon and for his appearance on the HBO series Girls. He was recently seen as Whizzer in Falsettos (his second Tony Award nomination) and in Ryan Murphy’s stage production and the subsequent film of The Boys in the Band.

This is a fun concert that shows the boy can sing more than just show tunes! Fans will want to check it out.

BALLET: The Red Shoes – Ahmanson Theatre – March 19th – March 21st $10

As part of their continuing Digital Series and their relationship with Matthew Bourne, Center Theatre Group and the Ahmanson Theatre are offering up a filmed performance of Bourne’s ballet The Red Shoes.

The ballet is inspired by the Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger film from 1948 (which in itself was inspired by a story by Hans Christian Anderson).

Bourne uses the music of legendary film composer Bernard Herrmann (Citizen Kane, Psycho) for this ballet.

Ashley Shaw stars as a ballerina torn between her love for the composer who wrote her a ballet and the impresario who runs the ballet company and controls her career.

There will be five opportunities to stream The Red Shoes. Friday, March 19th at 8:00 PM PDT/11:00 PM EDT; Saturday March 20th at 5:00 PM PDT/8:00 EDT and 8:00 PM PDT/11:00 PM PDT and Sunday, March 21st at 1:00 PM PDT/4:00 PM EDT and 5:00 PM PDT/8:00 PM EDT.

Tickets are $10. This program will not be available for streaming outside the United States.

OPERA: Siegfried – San Francisco Opera – March 20th – March 21st

Conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles; starring Daniel Brenna, Greer Grimsley, Iréne Theorin, Ronnita Miller and David Cangelosi. This revival of Francesa Zambello’s 2011 production is from the 2017-2018 season.

This third opera in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen had its premiere in Bayreuth in 1876 where it was seen at the first-ever performance of The Ring Cycle.

The title character is front and center in the third opera in the Ring Cycle. He matures throughout the opera via the choices he makes. He encounters an enigmatic Wanderer, but doesn’t know this is Wotan in disguise. When Siegfried is able to reassemble pieces of Siegmund’s sword (Siegmund is his father) he uses it to kill Fafner who has the responsibility of protecting the gold that was stolen from the Rhinemadiens in Das Rheingold. He also comes into possession of the ring. But what will he do with it and how will that impact his pre-destined love for Brunnhilde?

Lisa Hirsch, writing for the San Francisco Classical Voice, said of the production:

“…perhaps the greatest strength of the production remains: a splendidly staged and remarkably sympathetic Siegfried that flew by. In 2011, part of its charm was the surprisingly sweet Siegfried of Jay Hunter Morris, a handsome man with a beautiful voice. With the young heroic tenor Daniel Brenna stepping into the role this year, some of the sweetness and charm is lost to a more conventionally brash portrayal of the character. Still, the opera really did come off as a scherzo, a comparatively light moment in the Ring despite the deaths of Mime and Fafner. The encounters between the Wanderer and Mime, Alberich, Erda, and Siegfried retain their tremendous emotional power and depth.”

VOCALS: Songs from the Heart – Ute Lemper – March 20th – 2:00 PM EDT/11:00 AM PDT

Whether in concert halls, recording albums or gracing the stage of a musical, Ute Lemper has easily become of our most passionate and accomplished performers.

That wide range of material she handles will be on display in Songs from the Heart on Saturday. The concert will be streaming from Europe and includes songs from the musicals Cabaret and Chicago; from The Threepenny Opera; songs made famous by Édith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich, a song Lemper composed and also a song by Joni Mitchell.

I’ve seen her in multiple concert performances and also in the Broadway revival of Chicago. She’s absolutely amazing.

Joining Lemper for this concert will be Vana Gierig on piano; Tim Ouimette on trumpet; Matt Parrish on bass and Todd Turkish on drums and percussion.

Ticket are $24.99 and allow for 48 hours of access.

JAZZ: Jeremy Pelt Quintet – Vermont Jazz Center – March 20th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

You’re probably asking yourself how often will I recommend a performance by Jeremy Pelt? As long as he keeps putting out great music like Griot – This Is Important! I will do so as long as possible.

This concert from the Vermont Jazz Center will focus exclusively on music from this new album.

Joining Pelt for this concert are Vicente Archer on bass; Victor Gould on piano; Chien Chien Lu on vibraphone and Allan Mednard on drums.

There is no charge to stream the concert; however donations are encouraged.

ONE PERSON PLAY: Anyone But Me – IAMA Theatre Company – March 21st – April 18th

Sheila Carrasco’s Anyone But Me is the first of two one-person shows by Latinx-American women that Los Angeles’ IAMA Theatre Company will start streaming this weekend. Carrasco stars in this show in which she depicts multiple women struggling to define themselves and realizing that where they are is not where they want to be.

Anyone But Me is directed by Margaux Susi.

Tickets start at $15 (based on your ability to donate to IAMA).

ONE PERSON PLAY: The Oxy Complex – IAMA Theatre Company – March 21st – April 18th

The second play, The Oxy Complex, is written and performed by Anna LaMadrid. The play is set in the not-too-distant future – specifically the 500th day of quarantine. They Oxy of the title is not Oxycontin (source of opioid addictions), but rather Oxytocin.

What is oxytocin? It is defined by Medical News Today as:

“…a neurotransmitter and a hormone that is produced in the hypothalamus. From there, it is transported to and secreted by the pituitary gland, at the base of the brain.

“It plays a role in the female reproductive functions, from sexual activity to childbirth and breast feeding.”

So what is LaMadrid exploring in her show? All the things a woman might miss while being quarantined for so long. There is a reason, after all, that Oxytocin is called the “love hormone.”

Michelle Bossy directs. Tickets begin at $15 (based on your ability to donate).

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Bang on a Can Marathon Live Online – March 21st – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

For their spring live online marathon, Bang on a Can is showcasing performances from New York and Berlin.

Here’s the line-up:

3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Daniel Bernard Roumain Why Did They Kill Sandra Bland? performed by Arlen Hlusko; Arnold Dreyblatt; Mazz Swift and Rohan Chander △ or THE TRAGEDY OF HIKKOMORI LOVELESS from FINAL//FANTASY performed by Vicky Chow

4:00 PM EDT/1:00 PM PDT

Kristina Wolfe Listening to the Wind performed by Molly Barth; Miya Masaoka; Aeryn Santillan disconnect. performed by Ken Thomson and Adam Cuthbert

5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT

Ken Thomson Birds and Ambulances performed by Robert Black; Tomeka Reid Lamenting G.F., A.A., B.T., T.M. performed by Vicky Chow; Steve Reich Vermont Counterpoint performed by Claire Chase; Christina Wheeler and Molly Joyce Purity performed by David Cossin

6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT

Tyshawn Sorey; Jeffrey Brooks Santuario performed by Mark Stewart; Moor Mother and Bill Frisell

BROADWAY VOCALS: Jackie Hoffman – March 21st – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Jackie Hoffman in the original companies of Hairspray and Xanadu on Broadway. She’s always a joy to watch. Sadly I didn’t get a chance to see her in The Addams Family, On the Town or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

But you’ll get to see what makes Hoffman such a delightful and witty performer on Sunday.

She is Seth Rudetsky’s guest as part of his Concert Series. I can only imagine what stories she’ll have to tell and what songs she’ll choose to sing. We can all find out either in the live broadcast or in the encore showing (also on Sunday) at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT.

Tickets are $25.

DANCE: Uncharted Territory: Dancers in Isolation – Eryc Taylor Dance – Premieres March 21st – 6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT

Eryc Taylor has conceived a new work born out of the crisis that has hit us all in the last year. This work, Uncharted Territory: Dancers in Isolation, was created via Zoom, and focuses on New York City dancers.

The company features Nicole Baker, Chris Bell, Taylor Ennen, AJ Guevara, Eryc Taylor and Alex Tenreiro Theis. Each dancer choreographed their own work. The film is revealed in five separate segments which explore themes of death, mental instability, paranoia, sexual frustration and stillness.

The music was composed by Daniel Tobias.

There is no charge to watch the premiere, though donations are encouraged. Uncharted Territory will remain available online through March 28th.

PLAY: Yours Unfaithfully – Mint Theater Company – March 22nd – May 16th

Though written in 1933, Miles Malleson’s Yours Unfaithfully remained unperformed until Mint Theatre Company produced the show in late 2016.

It seems strange that a story about a married couple exploring an open relationship came from 1933. The all-too-virtuous husband (Max von Essen) is a writer seemingly unable to get inspired. His wife (Elisabeth Gray) runs a progressive school. She suggests opening up their relationship.

Alexis Soloski, in her review for the New York Times, said:

“Under the polished direction of Jonathan Bank, and in the hands of a fine team of designers, its arguments remain provocative, while its structure feels familiar, its tone decorous. Maybe that only makes it more unusual. It’s a bit like a sex farce with real sorrow instead of slammed doors, and something like a drawing room comedy with moral conundrums peeking out beneath the cushions. It is often very funny; it is also very nearly a tragedy.

There is no fee to watch the play. Registration; however, is required.

BROADWAY AND JAZZ VOCALS: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – March 22nd – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Jim Caruso celebrates 50 episodes of Pajama Cast Party with this Monday’s edition. Which makes the absence of his usual venue for his weekly in-person Cast Party, Birdland, all that more palpable.

But this is a party and the show will celebrate turning 50. Joining this week are singer/songwriter Ben Clark, Broadway/pop singer Joshua Colley (Les Misérables), singer/artist Jared Wayne Gladly, Broadway’s Jason Kravits (Relatively Speaking), Brazilian singer/songwriter Denise Reis and Braodway’s Dee Roscioli (Fiddler on the Roof).

That’s this weekend’s Four Days of Best Bets: March 19th – March 21st. But a few reminders before we go:

Los Angeles Philharmonic releases a new Sound/Stage episode entitled A Pan-American Musical Feast with special guest Chef José Andrés. The episode features performances of works by Tania León; Paul Desenne and Aaron Copland. For details on this episode and the whole series please go here.

The 92nd Street Y is still streaming last weekend’s performance by violinist Gil Shaham with The Knights. You can read details about their entire series here. Check out my recent interview with Shaham here.

The Metropolitan Opera concludes their Viewer’s Choice week with a 2006-2007 season production of Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia on Friday; a production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin from the same season (and strongly recommended) and a production of Handel’s Agrippina from the 2019-2020 season on Sunday (also recommended). You can see details and clips from all three productions here.

On Monday the Met begins a weeklong celebration of Myths and Legends with a production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice from the 2008-2009 season. We’ll have full details on Monday with our preview of the the week’s full line-up.

I trust you’ll find something amongst the Four Days of Best Bets: March 19th – March 22nd to keep you entertained! Have a great weekend.

Photo: Artwork of the balcony scene from Romeo y Julieta by Erick Davila (Courtesy The Public Theater)

Correction: The name of Eryc Taylor Dance program is Uncharted Territory and not Unchartered Territory as we originally listed. Cultural Attaché has corrected the post above and regrets the error.

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Where else would you find these people all in the same show?

Jelani Alladin, Jacqueline Antaramian, Antonio Banderas, Laura Benanti, Kim Blanck, Ally Bonino, Danielle Brooks, Jenn Colella, Elvis Costello, Daniel Craig, Alysha Deslorieux, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Holly Gould, Danai Gurira, Stephanie Hsu, David Henry Hwang, Oscar Isaac, Nikki M. James, Alicia Keys, John Leguizamo, John Lithgow, Audra McDonald, Grace McLean, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mia Pak, Kelli O’Hara, Suzan-Lori Parks, David Hyde Pierce, Phylicia Rashad, Liev Schreiber, Martin Sheen, Phillipa Soo, Meryl Streep, Will Swenson, Shaina Taub, Kuhoo Verma, Ada Westfall and Kate Wetherhead.

Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon (A Raising in the Sun) is putting this all together. The music director is another Tony Award winner, Ted Sperling (The Light in the Piazza).

Why did all these people come together for Forward. Together.? Simply put, The Public Theater has supported playwrights and artists for decades. Amongst the show that began their life at The Public are A Chorus Line, Girl from the North Country, Take Me Out, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, Caroline, Or Change and Hamilton.

There is also an online auction where there are 20 items you can bid on ranging from posters from Shakespeare in the Park seasons, to a ten-year premium seat pass for those annual summer gatherings at Delacorte Theater in Central Park to virtual drinks and meals and more. To view the items and bid, you can go here.

The fundraiser premieres at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT and will remain available for viewing until October 24th at 11:59 PM EDT/8:59 PM PDT. The show can be watched on The Public Theater’s website, their YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Having watched the show I can tell you there are some very real highlights. Amongst them, Antonio Banderas and Laura Benanti singing “What I Did For Love” from A Chorus Line; Danielle Brooks singing a Burt Bacharach song as a lullaby to her young child and to us all; a song from Shaina Taub’s musical, Suffragette and Oscar Isaac singing a song from Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Photo: The Public Theatre (Photo by Joseph Augstein/Courtesy The Public Theater)

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New York’s Public Theater has given birth to some of theater’s finest accomplishments. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning That Championship Season to Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls to Caroline, Or Change and a couple musicals you might have heard of: A Chorus Line and Hamilton. They will be celebrating their history and looking passionately towards the future on Monday, June 1st with their online gala event We Are One Public.

No pun intended, but the public is invited to join The Public for this event. We Are One Public begins at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT on their website. Hosting is Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon directs and the music director is another Tony Award-winner, Ted Sperling.

If you want to see a list that defines an embarrassment of riches, the participants for Monday’s fundraiser will serve as just that:

Todd Almond, Antonio Banderas, Laura Benanti, Kim Blanck, Ally Bonino, Danielle Brooks, Troy Anthony Burton, Michael Cerveris,  Glenn Close, Jenn Colella, Elvis Costello, Daniel Craig, Claire Danes, Carla Duren, Danaya Esperanza, Jane Fonda, Nanya-Akuki Goodrich, Holly Gould, Danai Gurira, Anne Hathaway, Stephanie Hsu, David Henry Hwang, Oscar Isaac, Brian d’Arcy James, Nikki M. James, Alicia Keys, John Leguizamo, John Lithgow, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Audra McDonald, Grace McLean, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Margaret Odette, Kelli O’Hara, Sandra Oh, Mia Pak, Suzan-Lori Parks, David Hyde Pierce, Phylicia Rashad, Jay O. Sanders, Liev Schreiber, Deandre Sevon, Martin Sheen, Phillipa Soo, Meryl Streep, Trudie Styler & Sting, Will Swenson, Shaina Taub, Kuhoo Verma, Ada Westfall, Kate Wetherhead and more.

During We Are One Public, there will be two special honors awarded. The first is to benefactors Audrey & Zygi Wilf whose philanthropy has greatly benefited The Public Theatre. The second is to actor Sam Waterston.

The actor, who will be the artistic honoree, has appeared in over a dozen productions at The Public Theater. His work there began in 1963 and usually finds him performing the works of William Shakespeare – most often during The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park season. His most recent appearance was as Prospero in the 2015 production of The Tempest.

Obviously donations are encouraged before, during and after this event. There is also an on-line auction that is already open for bidding. Amongst the items available are a virtual conversation with Queen Latifah and director Lee Daniels; a decade of premium Shakespeare in the Park seats; a signed sketch of the set of Hamilton by David Korins and a Zoom chat with ballet dancers Ethan Stiefel and Gillian Murphy. There are many more items available.

We Are One Public is scheduled to run 90 minutes. There is a virtual dance party immediately following the event.

Photo from Cymbeline courtesy of the New York Public Library.

Photo of The Public Theatre Courtesy of The Public Theater

Update: This post has been updated to include the postponement of the event.

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I found myself in New York this past weekend. This was also Bette Midler’s last weekend in the revival of Hello, Dolly!  So I did want any fool without tickets for one her last performances would do: I waited for two hours in hopes of getting a single ticket by standing in the cancellation line.

The odds were on my side. After all, the weather was blustery and very cold. The security guard said odds are best on bad weather days. Though the management at the Shubert Theatre was able to allow us to stay inside for most of that wait, the last 45 minutes were spent outside where the wind tunnel that is Shubert Alley made the 12 degree weather seem infinitely colder.

But the wait paid off. I ended up with a ticket in the center orchestra section in the seventh row.  I should say that I had already seen this production once before in the summer. But I couldn’t let the Bette Midler parade pass me by without one more visit to the Harmonia Gardens.

The show didn’t disappoint and neither did the Divine Miss M. The audience, knowing that it was Midler’s final weekend, was savoring every syllable, every gesture and every note.

I’ve seen hundreds of productions of plays and musicals. And I’ve seen some legendary performances. But without question, the star turn that Bette Midler has in Hello, Dolly! is on another level completely. By the time the show gets around to the title song in the second act, the audience is rewarded with perhaps the single most satisfying moment I’ve ever seen on a stage. Midler is having the time of her life and making sure that we do, too. Perhaps the best way to describe this moment (and, in fact, her performance) my partner, not the biggest of musical fans, loved this show and loved Midler in it. Even he leapt to his feet at the conclusion of the song.

It also should be said that David Hyde Pierce is every bit her equal. As Horace Vandergelder he goes toe-to-toe with Midler both comedically and dramatically.

In Hello, Dolly!, Dolly Levi has finally decided it is time to remarry. And she has her eyes set on Vandergelder who is about to propose to someone else. Levi, being a master manipulator, finds a way of making Vandergelder think it is his idea to marry her. The comedic genius of their chemistry and rhythm is that this scene plays like a master class in ad-lib (even if they may have been doing nearly the same thing for the entire run.)

The supporting cast (including Gavin Creel, Taylor Trensch, Kate Baldwin and Beanie Feldstein) are delightful. This is the best production of Hello, Dolly!  you and I will probably ever see.

And though we just said so long dearie to Miss Midler, the show will go on. Bernadette Peters takes over for Midler and Victor Garber assumes the role of Vandergelder. It will continue to be a great production of a great show.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to see Bette Midler take to the Broadway stage in such a commanding way that I will forever remember her final line of dialogue in the show, “Thank you, Ephraim.”

But it is we who should thank you, Bette. It was nice to have you right where you belong.

Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes

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“Chris [Durang] has done such a beautiful job of layering in the sort of information you need to get most of the references,” says Pierce. “There are sly allusions; if you know Chekhov, you’ll catch those. They are all carefully threaded into the real events of this play. Chris is a genius at mixing weird contemporary stuff with classical theatrical language and coming up with his own unique hybrid.”

Set in Pennsylvania the play tells the story of Vanya (Mark Blum) and his adopted sister Sonia (Kristine Nielsen), who live in the family house where they took care of their now deceased parents. Sister Masha (Christine Ebersole), an actress in B-movies who supports her siblings, arrives to attend a nearby costume party with her much younger boyfriend Spike (David Hull). While there, Masha announces her plan to sell the house. Old family dynamics come roaring back to life just as Cassandra (Shalita Grant), the voodoo-practicing cleaning woman had predicted.

“It’s not just a funny play. It’s actually a great play that will stand the test of time. But Chris’s plays are not foolproof. His language requires actors who have an ear for it. There are funny people who don’t have the ability to do Durang. But everyone here has the ear for it and the timing of it. They know how to embrace the absurdity of it without ever straining into caricature,” says Pierce.

Pierce, who had directed The Importance of Being Earnest and the musical comedy It Shoulda Been You in 2012 was not originally planning to direct Vanya. “[Original director] Nicholas Martin had conflicts and couldn’t do it. He and Chris knew I had been directing recently. They felt like I was someone who was familiar with the play and someone who really cares about it. I said ‘absolutely’ when they asked. The challenge we have is that half the company is from the original production and half is brand new.”

How difficult is it for him to direct an actor in a role that he originated? “It’s been a great partnership, a great dance. I’ve been very careful not to try to lead Mark Blum toward what I used to do. He is a great actor and he’s done things that have had me go ‘Wow, that’s how that works.’ But he hasn’t had the same amount of time we had. So I can give him shorthands to help him with a connection he’s already making or maybe to highlight things that happen early in the play that pay off later.”

Which means, according to Pierce, that this production is a little different. “But not in a way that I can characterize,” he says. “It’s different because it has different actors and has different chemistry and they sometimes bring radically different approaches to the roles. To have time away since it closed in August, to be in a different location, it’s shaking us loose from our ideas of what it needs to be. The other difference is the audience. We’ve had two previews and they embrace it from the moment they walk into the theatre. The L.A. audience is another new character for the production.”

Pierce’s future plans include juggling both his acting and directing careers. “I’m preparing to do It Shoulda Been You. We did it two to three years ago in New Jersey and it was a huge hit. We have been trying to bring it to Broadway and scheduling has been impossible. I’m putting all my energy into that. There are plans to bring Vanya to London in the fall and I’d go back to acting in it. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Photo by Joan Marcus

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